Sanibel Community Lakes
Lee County, FloridaView mapDirections
Florida DEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Sanibel Community Lakes. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- 32 ft max depth
Sanibel Community Lakes in Lee County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 132.5 µg/L.
Sanibel Community Lakes is a highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Lee County, Florida with an estimated average depth of about 32 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 73 other monitored lakes in Lee County, Sanibel Community Lakes ranks #20 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, FDEP, last sampled 2025-04-22. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyElevated nutrients
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Sanibel Community Lakes is safe to swim in today is a call for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Sanibel Community Lakes
These are the measurements Florida DEP publishes for Sanibel Community Lakes, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 132.5 µg/L. TSI 75.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 133µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 75 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Sanibel Community Lakes
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~32 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Florida has not published bathymetry for Sanibel Community Lakes.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
309 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
8.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Sanibel Community Lakes
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Sanibel Community Lakes in Lee County, Florida — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Sanibel Community Lakes are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Sanibel Community Lakes
Prices for Oct 16–18, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Sanibel Community Lakes
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2020–2022). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Improving-54.5 µg/L/yr2 years
Nearby Lakes in Lee County
Frequently asked questions about Sanibel Community Lakes
Where is Sanibel Community Lakes?
- Sanibel Community Lakes is a lake in Lee County, Florida. Its water-quality measurements are published by Florida DEP and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Sanibel Community Lakes?
- Sanibel Community Lakes in Lee County, Florida has water-quality measurements published by Florida DEP, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 132.5 µg/L.
Is Sanibel Community Lakes safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Sanibel Community Lakes?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Sanibel Community Lakes, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 32 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Explore Sanibel Community Lakes across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
18 measurements from 5 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Submitting organization not recorded for these samples18 samples · 2020–2025
Monitoring station identifiers (5)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)